ACC Basketball: Analyzing each team’s returning impact players for 2023-24

Duke

In 2023, Duke made the NCAA tournament for the first time in 39 years led by someone other than Coach K. Jon Scheyer was able to find success in just his first year as the new Blue Devils head coach, and with the amount of talent that is returning next season, there is a clear reason why they are sitting atop many ACC power rankings lists.

Of course, the team is losing quality pieces of the rotation in both Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively, but despite these losses, the team has been able to maintain a majority of a roster that was already amongst the best in the ACC. Of course, with how many players the Blue Devils are slated to bring back I could break down each returning player, but that merits its own article due to the amount of talent on the team. Instead, here I will just detail the returning players in the biggest positions for Duke. This includes Mark Mitchell, Tyrese Proctor, Jeremy Roach, and ACC Rookie of the Year Kyle Filipowski(these are 4 of the top 5 scorers from Duke’s roster).

Mark Mitchell showed his worth for Duke throughout his freshman season in more ways than one. As a 6’8 forward, he was able to add 9.1 points on an efficient 47% from the field while also hauling in 4.5 rebounds per game. Now with a year of experience at the college level under his belt, it can easily be expected he will only continue to improve and use this experience to show why Duke is rated so highly by most.

Tyrese Proctor was another young player that was brought in and was able to live up to the lofty expectations that were attached to his name. Now with Proctor alongside the veteran guard in Jeremy Roach Duke easily has one of the best backcourts in the ACC and all of college basketball. Along with his 9.4 ppg for the Blue Devils Proctor was also able to lead the team in assists with 3.3 per game.

Jeremy Roach is easily among the most important returning guards in college basketball, and Duke’s Veteran floor general will be surrounded by a plethora of talent in this upcoming season. After averaging 8 points per game through his first two years on the roster Roach finally made the jump many experts predicted he could in his third year. He rocketed all the way to 13.6 points per game while having his most efficient season from both behind the arc and at the free throw line. Throughout all three seasons, Roach has proved he can be level-headed in every situation and has shown growth in each stage of the game. His overall abilities match perfect to be the leader of a team prepping up for a special season.

All ACC Second Team as a freshman is no small feat at all, and last year Kyle Filipowski made it look easy while leading one of the best teams in the ACC in both scoring (15.1 per game) and rebounding. (9.0 per game) But over the offseason some concerns have been raised surrounding Filipowski’s health. The freshman star had surgery on both hips earlier in this offseason, but assuming that he’s able to play the entirety of the season he will easily become one of the two most important returners in the ACC.